Our next renovation project

A couple of weeks ago we started thinking about our next renovation project and decided it was time to move out side and tackle the garden, hopefully in time for summer. The garden space we have isn’t massive and is split over three levels, which makes it a bit awkward but I think we have finally come up with a design, although this may change several times before the project starts.

We have decided to keep the three separate levels at the heights they are because leveling them would simply be too big a job and wouldn’t really achieve much, especially as we would have to raise one level about 3 feet and then make changes to the exterior of the house in order to access the garden. We also decided that as the children are now older and therefore, supposedly, more careful and more mature the risk of having three levels is less dangerous, although it still worries me when they are running around on the grass.

Anyway, we have decided to keep the three levels as they are.

The lower level will be laid with some new cement to make it all nice and even and smooth and the old style bricks we have up the side and the rounded steps up to the grass will be cleaned up and made to look more of a feature. We will, when the boys are asleep, get rid of the play house to open up the space a bit more which should give them more room to play.

The middle level, which is currently grassed in the center with bushes down either side will be replaced with artificial grass, although at the moment we are still unsure whether to keep the bushes or just grass the full area. The thought of no more muddy feet, lawn mowing, weed pulling and the dog digging sounds fantastic to me and cant come soon enough.

The top level currently houses the trampoline, just. However, this will also be being removed along with the play house in the dead of the night when the children can’t stop us. We will be re flagging the area or maybe even having some decking put in if I have my way to create a beautiful little relaxation area as this is where we get most of the sun for the longest and as much as I love the boys, they have had this area for the last 4 years so I think I should now be able to claim it as mine. As well as new decking we will be putting in a stylish rattan garden furniture set and a fire pit for those sunny evenings and as I have seen some brilliant garden furniture deals on groupon, that’s where I will be looking first. I’m also eyeing up some solar powered fairy lights to go behind the seats on the wooden fence panels and some other solar lights down either side of the grassed area so that it can be used day or night.

Although these plans don’t sound to grand or like too big a project in comparison to the kitchen we had installed we will be doing the majority of the work ourselves including the laying the grass. Of course when I say we I mean Billy and as it he will only be able to work on it during the weekends and on the occasional evening it could take a while and seeing as i want it completed in about an hour you might want to wish him luck as i think he has no ideas what he is letting himself in for with a project manager like me in charge!

Look out for the updates they are sure to be…….interesting!

(This post was written in collaboration with groupon. All opinions and plans are my own, even the husband is obliviously to some of them!)